Chapter 15

Caber Varitas, the Crown Prince.

Ever since his coming-of-age ceremony, he had never shown his face at any public or diplomatic event. There were even rumors that he had been quite different in personality when he was younger.

And now, that very man had come to the Duke of Printz’s residence.

“What do you mean by that, Your Highness…? I’ve already instructed them to prepare a place for you, so please, allow me to escort you inside first.”

Theo swallowed nervously, forcing an awkward smile as he tried to ease the frozen atmosphere.

“Do you think I came all this way just to have a cup of tea with you?”

“Then… may I humbly ask what brings Your Highness here?”

The Crown Prince sneered.

There was only one reason he had come here.

Rayleigh.

Judging by the duke’s behavior, he didn’t even seem to know that Rayleigh had filed for divorce. Caber tilted his head slightly as he surveyed the ducal residence.

He couldn’t sense Rayleigh’s presence anywhere.

She had already left.

Should he consider that a relief? If he had encountered her here, what expression would she have worn?

A faint memory of her childhood face surfaced in his mind, but he soon shook his head.

Did I really think I would get to see that smile she used to give me back then?

He scoffed at himself, knowing how absurd the thought was.

He should have realized something was wrong when he received a letter containing nothing but a date and time.

Ren had anticipated everything. He had never intended to allow even a brief meeting between Caber and Rayleigh.

It had taken quite some time, but Caber had gone to considerable lengths, running around and pulling strings to ensure everything worked in Rayleigh’s favor.

That bastard Ren… He definitely dumped the whole mess on me.

Clicking his tongue inwardly, Caber furrowed his brows.

Then again, if Rayleigh had intended to remain at the ducal residence, she wouldn’t have used her ability in the first place.

“Fine, then. Who do you think you are to dare question me?”

Under the Crown Prince’s mocking gaze, Theo’s fists clenched tightly before slowly relaxing.

“…I apologize, Your Highness.”

He had never experienced such humiliation before.

The moment he lowered his head, a short click of the Crown Prince’s tongue rang out.

“Tsk.”

How could you possibly have stayed by the side of someone like this…?

Caber had no desire to waste any more time. Looking at the duke groveling before him only made his mood worse.

How could that head bow so easily to him, yet remain as unyielding as an unbreakable tree when facing her?

Caber could easily imagine Theo looking down at Rayleigh, his chin raised and his eyes lowered in contempt.

Theo felt as though he could hardly breathe.

Could he really have come here because of Rayleigh?

Hadn’t she been discarded by both the imperial family and her own family because she possessed no abilities?

Just what… was Rayleigh to him?

To Theo, she had been nothing more than the discarded daughter of House Trayla, someone he had married to produce an heir.

She was beautiful, certainly, but beyond her appearance, she had nothing to offer.

Wasn’t that how everyone saw her?

But Caber was different.

Theo couldn’t be certain, yet it was obvious that the Crown Prince harbored feelings for Rayleigh that differed from those of everyone else.

As the Crown Prince continued to study him with a slow, penetrating gaze, a chill crept down Theo’s spine.

“Sign here.”

Caber held out a document so thoroughly crumpled that its contents were barely legible.

It was a confirmation of Rayleigh’s divorce petition, and only the signature line for the opposing party remained blank.

Rayleigh had already signed it. If Theo agreed, the divorce could be finalized.

“Your Highness, I have no intention of divorcing my wife. Why should I have to divorce—”

“Enough.”

Caber raised one hand, cutting him off.

The smile that had been on his face twisted into something ugly.

“I’m giving you a chance to live. You’d better think very carefully before you say another word.”

Caber took a step toward Theo.

His lips were pressed into a firm line, and a hint of suppressed emotion flickered in his eyes.

Resentment. Bewilderment. Wounded pride.

All the petty, unpleasant emotions one could imagine.

Caber placed a hand on Theo’s shoulder and pressed down lightly as he spoke.

Theo flinched, his body trembling once again. Pretending that nothing was wrong, he stole a glance at the hand resting on his shoulder.

“Did Rayleigh ever rest her head on this shoulder? No… Have you ever even offered her your shoulder to lean on?”

“…I don’t understand what you’re talking about all of a sudden.”

“Fine. I suppose you must have done it at least once.”

Theo said nothing.

But Caber decided on an answer for himself and curled his lips into a crooked smile.

Crack!

“AAARGH!”

A dull cracking sound rang out, followed by Theo’s scream.

Under Caber’s hand, one of Theo’s shoulder bones had shattered.

His face contorted with agony as he clutched his shoulder and collapsed to the floor.

“Didn’t I tell you to think carefully before answering?”

“Ugh! Y-Your Highness! This… this is outrageous! How can you, the man who will one day become emperor, behave like this without even telling me why?!”

Theo’s voice broke through his tightly clenched teeth. Groans of pain escaped him repeatedly.

“That’s not the answer I wanted, either.”

Caber looked down at the duke writhing in agony, then bent slightly to meet his eyes.

“More importantly, someone like you has no right to make careless remarks about whether I’m fit to be emperor.”

Wearing a dark smile, Caber patted the back of Theo’s hand, which was gripping his broken shoulder.

He pried open Theo’s tightly clenched fingers, then seized his hand in his own.

“Ugh! Why… why are you doing this to me?!”

“Did you use these filthy hands to stroke her face? To touch her body?”

“N-No, I didn’t!”

A terrible premonition seized Theo, and he hurriedly shook his head in denial.

But Caber showed no intention of releasing his grip.

“Oh, dear. Lying to the Crown Prince himself?”

Caber had already sent people to investigate the ducal residence.

And given that he had been in contact with Ren, there was no way he was unaware of the truth.

A chilling smile spread across his face.

Theo, now deathly pale, desperately tried to wrench his hand free, but it was useless.

Crack!

Another sickening crunch echoed through the room, and Theo’s body twisted violently.

“AAARGH!”

“I cherished her so much that I could barely bring myself to do anything more than look at her.”

His voice was quiet, almost wistful.

Theo was in so much pain that he could no longer even scream. The agony was so overwhelming that it hardly felt real.

“Sign.”

Caber’s low, chilling voice rang out softly.

Theo lay on the floor, his forehead pressed against it as he struggled to endure the pain. Once again, Caber held the document out to him.

“Your Highness.”

Haban stepped out of the carriage and surveyed the scene before him without the slightest change in expression.

He merely adjusted his glasses and sighed.

As Caber’s aide, Haban had followed him just in case something happened. However, trusting Caber’s promise that he wouldn’t kill anyone, no matter how angry he became, Haban had decided to remain quietly inside the carriage and watch.

“Didn’t you promise me that even when you were angry, you wouldn’t kill anyone?”

“Come now, Haban. Someone might misunderstand you.”

I haven’t killed him yet.

Watching the Crown Prince answer so confidently, Haban shook his head.

Caber glanced at Theo, who lay motionless on the floor, and gave him a tentative poke.

He was unconscious.

Caber looked down at the document in his hand, and his expression turned dangerously cold.

“Wake him up. Heal him or do whatever it takes to make him regain consciousness.”

“My ability is not meant to be wasted on healing trash.”

Haban’s refusal was firm.

Caber merely tilted his chin, silently issuing an order.

“If all you need is his signature, Your Highness, surely you don’t have to heal him.”

Haban crouched down and placed a pen in Theo’s hand.

Then, gripping the duke’s hand, he moved it across the signature line and wrote Theo’s name himself.

Once he finished, he looked up at the Crown Prince.

Theo’s signature was crooked, but anyone could clearly recognize the name.

“Wouldn’t this do?”

“That would be forgery, wouldn’t it? And since there’s no one who can properly prove it, wake him up again.”

“Your Highness, why would there be no one? We have the most reliable witnesses imaginable.”

Haban rose to his feet, restored Theo’s appearance until he looked presentable on the outside, then slung him carelessly over his shoulder and headed into the ducal residence.

He entered with a bright smile.

Not long afterward, he emerged carrying a stack of documents.

“Wouldn’t these be enough to serve as witnesses?”

With that, there would be no one left willing to believe Theo’s side of the story.

Jingle—

“Would it be all right if we posted a notice here?”

It was the city guard.

Rather than answering aloud, Rayleigh simply nodded.

Oh, right!

She suddenly remembered the paper she had already posted on the wall.

Hurriedly opening the door, she called out to the guard.

“Here! Put it right here. This notice needs to be clearly visible.”

She even pointed out the exact spot, making sure the words STAFF URGENTLY NEEDED wouldn’t be covered.

“Yes, understood.”

The guards posted their notice exactly where Rayleigh had indicated.

But what kind of notice is it?

Curious, she was just about to take a closer look when she shook her head.

It’s probably another notice about wanted criminals.

Still, they’ve been putting up a lot of these lately.

It had been a month since Rayleigh arrived here, and there always seemed to be some incident or other breaking out in the city.

“It’s cold. I should go back inside.”

A gust of wind sent a chill through her, so Rayleigh closed the door and glanced at the clock.

“Ren should be here soon.”

She returned to arranging the jewelry on display and examined the newly acquired gemstones.

One ruby, in particular, caught her eye with its vivid red hue.

“This would suit Ren perfectly.”

She was thinking of making him a pendant.

The color would look wonderful on him.

He would undoubtedly scold her for giving away something she was supposed to sell, but she didn’t care.

Carefully lifting the ruby with a pair of tweezers, she placed it back in its proper spot.

Just then, her loosely tied scarf slipped free and slid to the floor.

Rayleigh bent down to pick it up. After brushing the dust off with a few light pats, she began wrapping it around her neck again.

Jingle—

“Ren?”

“……”

There was no response.

After checking her reflection in the mirror and adjusting her scarf, Rayleigh tidied her hair and turned toward the door.

“…Rayleigh?”

The man standing there, calling her by name, was someone she had never seen before.